In general, the washing machine is a general term of a domestic appliance including an appliance which removes dirt from laundry by washing water supplied to the appliance and an action of detergent and an appliance which supplies hot air to wet laundry for drying the laundry.
In the meantime, it is a feature of a current washing machine that the washing machine can sterilize, deodor, and remove crumples from the laundry by using the steam generator.
A related art steam generator, which generates steam by heating water supplied from an outside of the steam generator with a heater, is provided with storage means for storing water, and a heater in the storage means to be in contact with the water stored therein, directly.
In order to secure safety such as overheating prevention of the heater, the steam generator puts the heater into operation only when the heater is submerged in the water fully. That is, the related art steam generator re-supplies the water after stopping operation of the heater if the heater is not submerged under the water even if a certain amount of the water is remained in the storage means.
Therefore, the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same does not have a structure in which the water is re-supplied after all the water supplied to the steam generator is consumed, but has a structure in which the water is re-supplied after generation of the steam (heater operation) is stopped if the heater appears out of a surface of the water.
That is, since the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same puts the heater into operation after re-supply of the water even if there is water remained in the steam generator, the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same has a problem in that entire water initially supplied can not be supplied in steam.
Moreover, since the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same is required to put the heater into operation after re-supply of the water even if the water is remained in same, the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same has a problem in that an ON/OFF period of the heater becomes short, and a process time period of a course becomes long.
Moreover, the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same has a limitation in that the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same is provided with a lowest water level sensing means for determining whether the heater in the same is submerged or not.
Furthermore, even though the related art steam generator has a sealing for preventing the water from leaking to an outside of the steam generator, since the sealing is provided at a position lower than the water level in the steam generator, the steam generator is vulnerable to water leakage.
Furthermore, the related art steam generator or the washing machine having the same supplies the water in the steam generator together with the steam by a pressure of the steam, washing efficiency has been poor.